Beautifully Unfinished

by Beverley Hollowed

  “Hey, Lucy,” Alison, her assistant said as she breezed into Lucy’s studio. “Have you selected your photos for Gloss yet?”

  “I have narrowed them down,” Lucy sighed, looking up from her computer at her assistant, who was holding out a cup of coffee for her. She smiled gratefully as she took it from her. “Thank you, Ali, I so needed this. I feel like I am seeing dots instead of photographs. They have all become one big blur. Right now, I have no idea what the hell I am going to send the magazine. I hate this part.”

  She took a long, welcomed sip of the coffee before she turned back to her screen and set her mug down next to her.

  “Lucy,” Alison said as she sat down in the seat next to Lucy and stared at the screen. “You know you are over thinking this too much. You always do this to yourself. Your photographs are all amazing. It doesn’t matter what you send them; they are going to love it, so stop worrying.”

  “You always say that, Ali,” Lucy laughed.

  “And I’m always right,” Alison replied with a sigh. “You are way too hard on yourself. At times, you are your own worst critic.”

  “I just want things to be perfect; that’s all.” Lucy shrugged.

  “Trust me,” Alison said as she stood up. “They will be. You just need to relax.”

  Lucy smiled to herself as her assistant turned and left the room. Lucy knew Alison wasn’t wrong, but she was a perfectionist, and that was just how it was.

  She had just pressed send on the email to the magazine when her intercom sounded. She reached for the speaker on her desk and pressed the button.

  “Hey, Ali,” Lucy said as she closed down her computer and opened her laptop. “If you are checking up on me, you will be pleased to hear I have sent the damn email. You can stop stressing now.”

  “That’s good to hear,” Alison said, but Lucy could hear an edge in her voice, and she instantly knew something was wrong.

  “What’s wrong?” Lucy blurted immediately, then held her breath. “Has something happened?”

  “Lucy,” Alison began nervously. “There is a call for you. It’s a nurse in a hospital in River Springs. She says it important.”

  “Put her through,” Lucy said as she could feel the blood drain from her face. Lucy knew there was only one reason she would be ringing her, and it was a call she dreaded. She picked up the receiver of her phone and waited for Alison to connect the call, the whole time chanting in her mind. Don’t panic, don’t panic.

  “Hello, is this Lucy Chance?” The woman asked when the call came through.

  “This is she,” Lucy replied, blowing out a deep, steadying breath. “It’s my dad, isn’t it?”

  “Ms. Chance,” the woman said, and Lucy held her breath once more. “My name is Clare Warren; I am a nurse in Mercy Hope Memorial, in River Springs. Your father was admitted to the emergency room this afternoon. He was involved in a shooting and was wounded.”

  “He was shot!” Lucy exclaimed, as hot tears stung her eyes and her heart hammered rapidly in her chest. She quickly blinked back the tears, now was not the time for crying.

  “Please don’t panic, Ms. Chance,” the nurse quickly said. “Your father has been taken to the OR, but his condition isn’t believed to be life threatening.”

  “So he is going to be okay?” Lucy asked as she breathed out a sigh of relief. “He isn’t going to die, right?”

  “We believe so, yes,” the nurse replied, and Lucy could hear the smile in her voice. “Ms. Chance, before your father was taken to surgery, he requested that I call you. He asked that I let you know what was happening but said there is no need for you to come here, that he was fine. However, as a nurse, I must tell you, that even though your father’s injuries aren’t’ life threatening, he still faces a long, difficult road to recovery and I think he really could do with the support.”

  Lucy could feel her heart race in her chest once again. It had been nine years since she had left River Springs. Nine years since that night. She had tried to go back many times over the years, but in the end, she just couldn’t face it. Now her father needed her; she had no choice.

  She remembered the day she left as if it was yesterday.

  It was ten days after the football party. She hadn’t left the house since her father took her home from the hospital six days earlier. She had been given sedatives to help her relax, and she had spent the morning sleeping, as she had every day since she had come home.

  She was woken to her father’s raised voice coming from downstairs. At first, she couldn’t make out what he was saying, but when she got up and quietly made her way to the landing, she could hear him, and he wasn’t happy.

  “I don’t understand,” he snapped angrily. “You have the rape kit; you have the moulds from the bite marks on her body. The cuts and bruises, how can you tell me you aren’t going to press charges?”

  Lucy could feel her legs buckle beneath her. She sat down on the top step and held onto the banister rail to try and keep herself grounded. They weren’t going to charge Trent? She could feel her stomach heave.

  “Trent doesn’t deny he had sex with Lucy,” Huge Bowman, the Assistant District Attorney explained. “Hell, Tom, he even admits he got a bit rough…”

  “A BIT ROUGH!” Her father yelled. “He bit her eleven times, some of the bite marks needed stitches. He is a fucking animal.”

  “I know, Tom,” Bowman tried to appease her father. “I know Lucy, and I know she isn’t that kind of girl. But we have a party full of witnesses that said Lucy was a willing participant. They say she walked upstairs with Trent. Hell, one girl said she walked in, and Lucy was performing oral sex on the boy.”

  “And it’s all a fucking lie,” Tom insisted. “What about Riley? Surely he was able to tell you what happened.”

  “I spoke to him,” Bowman replied, and Lucy lifted her head at the mention of Riley’s name. “He said he didn’t see anything; he was out back with the coach.”

  Lucy had heard enough, she stood up and returned to her room. When she reached her room, she packed her bags. She couldn’t stay here any longer. She would never be allowed to forget what had happened to her. Trent would still be here, and she could never walk the streets in peace again.

  That was the day she went to stay with her aunt in Nebraska until she started NYU in the fall.

  “Ms. Chance,” the nurse said down the phone, and Lucy realised she was still talking to her. “Ms. Chance.”

  “Yes, sorry,” Lucy said, shaking the ghosts from her mind. “Yes, of course, I will go there. Just, just don’t tell anyone I am coming, please. Especially not my dad.”

  “Certainly, Ms. Chance,” the nurse replied.

  “Thank you,” Lucy said as her mind went into overdrive and she began to make plans for her trip home. “I will be there as soon I can.”

  Lucy said goodbye to the nurse and hung up the phone.

  She sat for a moment, staring into space, trying to take in what had happened. She didn’t even hear Alison come into her studio.

  “Lucy,” she said startling her. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes,” Lucy replied with a smile.

  “Then why are you crying?” Alison asked.

  Lucy reached up and touched her face; she was surprised to find it covered in tears. She quickly wiped them away and forced another smile. She needed to get things sorted to go home to her father.

  “Alison, I need you to cancel all my appointments for the next couple of weeks,” Lucy said she forced a smile on her face.

  “Is everything okay?” Alison asked, as she gave Lucy a concerned look. “Is your dad okay?”

  “He was shot,” Lucy said as she stood up and started to pack up her belongings. “He is okay thankfully, but I need to go there and be with him. I don’t know how long I will be gone for. Can you keep things ticking over for me here?”

  “Sure,” Alison nodded. “Anything you need, just let me know.”

  “Thanks, Ali,” Lucy said, giving her a grateful smile. “I nee
d to go home and pack a bag before I hit the road.

  “You’re going to drive?” Alison asked as she followed Lucy to the door of the study.

  "I will be there in a couple of hours,” Lucy explained. “By the time I book a flight, get through security and all the rest of the crap that comes with flying, I won’t really save any time. At least this way I will have my own car and not some crappy rental.”

  “Will you be okay driving back alone?” Alison asked, but Lucy knew that she wasn’t just talking about the drive. Alison didn’t know the full story of what had happened to Lucy and why she never went home, but she knew something bad had happened.

  She knew Lucy loved her father. She called him every evening and skyped him a couple of times a week. Alison had met him every time he came to visit Lucy, and she was very fond of Tom Chance. Still, Alison knew there was a reason why Lucy never went home, and she knew it was something big.

  “I will be okay,” Lucy replied as she stopped, turned back to her assistant, and gave her a hug. “I will call you when I reach the hospital.”

  “Okay,” Alison said, but still she looked worried.

  “Stop worrying,” Lucy said, giving her a big smile. “Go home to that beautiful man of yours.”

  “Oh,” Alison said suddenly. “Speaking of beautiful men, shouldn’t you call Steve and tell him you are heading out of town? Maybe he will want to go with you, you know, for support.”

  Lucy didn’t reply. Instead, she just gave Alison the same look she always gave her when she knew her friend was not going to like what she was about to say.

  “Oh, Lucy, no,” Alison sighed. “You broke up with him? Why? It was going so well,”

  “I just wasn’t feeling it,” Lucy shrugged.

  “You barely gave him a chance!” Alison exclaimed. “You never give any of them a chance.”

  “That’s not true,” Lucy protested, but she knew Alison wasn’t wrong. She had liked Steve; she really had, but he wanted to move things on between them and she just wasn’t ready to take that step. She sighed to herself as she wondered if she would ever be ready to take that step?”

  “Please don’t be mad at me,” Lucy said, as she gave Alison a pleading look. “I will call you when I reach my dad, I promise.”

  She hugged her assistant one more time before she headed for the door.

  When she reached her apartment, she quickly packed a bag and set it down in the hallway. She wished she had time to shower, but she didn’t want to delay any longer then she had to. She decided a quick change of clothes would have to do.

  Once she had selected a crisp white shirt and a pair of black jeans from her wardrobe, she stripped and threw her dirty clothes in the hamper before she put on her clean underwear, then pulled on her jeans. As she slipped on her fitted shirt, she walked to the full-length mirror in her room.

  She stared at her reflection and sighed. Lucy was a natural beauty. She had piercing dark blue eyes, her mom’s elegant nose, and the perfect smile. Her face was framed by soft, wavy blonde hair that fell over her shoulders effortlessly.

  Lucy knew she was pretty, however when she looked at herself, pretty was not what she felt. All she could see was the sad, broken girl, who was still ashamed of herself and her body. She still felt sickened by the scars that were there, the ones that reminded her every day, just what Trent McAlister had taken from her.

  She pulled back her shirt and stared at the bite mark on her chest. Though the redness of the scars had long since faded, the scar was still there, reminding her every day what he had done to her.

  She ran her fingers over the rough ridges on her skin and choked back the lump of grief in her throat. She quickly pulled her shirt closed and buttoned it up.

  Whether she was ready or not, she was going back. Her dad needed her, so she needed to do this. It was time for her to go home.

  Chapter 2

  When Lucy reached the hospital later that night, she took a deep breath and stepped out of the car. She quickly walked towards the entrance, keeping her head down and avoiding eye contact with any passer-by. As she walked towards the door, memories of the last time she was in this hospital crashed into her mind.

  When Tucker reached the hospital that night, he parked in front of the main entrance and quickly climbed out of the car. He didn’t wait for Riley. Instead, he pulled open the back door, scooped Lucy up into his arms and held her close to him.

  She remembered how safe she felt in his arms and also how hurt she had felt that Riley seemed to be keeping his distance from her. She felt so ashamed and dirty, and Riley keeping his distance just made it worse.

  Tucker ran into the emergency room shouting that he needed help. Lucy could hear the concern in his voice. Before she knew it, she was being brought into a brightly lit room where they instructed Tucker to put her on the trolley in the centre of the room.

  They wouldn’t let Tucker stay with her while she was being examined. As he set her down on the trolley, she clung to him like her life depended on it.

  “Lucy,” he said as he looked into her eyes and smiled. “It’s okay; you’re safe now. I promise you, no one else can hurt you.”

  “Please don’t leave me,” she whispered.

  “I won’t leave you,” Tucker promised. “I will stay right outside this door and keep you safe until your dad gets here.”

  “You promise?” She asked.

  “I promise,” he replied with a smile.

  That was the last time she had seen Tucker. That was her only regret from back then. She was sorry she left without thanking him for his kindness that night.

  Lucy pushed those memories out of her head as she approached the reception in the emergency room.

  “Good evening,” a middle-aged nurse behind the large wooden desk said with a smile. “How can I help you?”

  “My dad,” Lucy began nervously, knowing once she said his name, everyone would know who she was. She knew that it had been nine years since she left, but she also knew this was a small town, and small towns have a way of never forgetting. “Chief Tom Chance, I got a call to say he was here, that he was in surgery.”

  “Are you Lucy?” The lady said with a broad smile. “I’m Clare Warren, I spoke to you on the phone.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Lucy replied, relieved that the nurse seemed genuinely friendly. “And thank you so much for the call. My dad can be stubborn sometimes. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had insisted you didn’t call me at all.”

  “Well,” the nurse laughed as she came around the counter. “He wasn’t very pleased when I said I was whether he liked it or not. He is out of surgery and is in a room upstairs. I will take you straight up to him.”

  “Thank you,” Lucy said and followed the nurse down the corridor to the elevators.

  “He was really lucky,” Clare said as they rode up in the elevator together. “He was hit in the shoulder, but it was a through and through. The real issue was the second bullet that hit his hip. They have repaired the damage, but it will be a long road to recovery.”

  Lucy sensed there was more the nurse wasn’t telling her.

  “There is more, isn’t there?” Lucy asked as the elevator came to a stop. The nurse didn’t talk for a moment. Instead, she stepped off the elevator and held it for Lucy to get off too.

  Lucy stepped off, stopped in front of Clare and looked at her expectantly. When the nurse’s eyes met hers, Lucy held her breath.

  “The bullet shattered your father’s hip, but it also damaged some of the nerves,” she finally explained. “The doctors have done all they could, but we have no way of knowing just how much power he will regain. He could make a full recovery, or he could be left with limited movement.”

  “Does he know this?” Lucy asked.

  “He has been told,” Clare sighed. “But he is, well, I don’t know how much he is taking in. When we told him and suggested we ask you to come, all he was worried about was not being a burden to you, that you didn’t feel like you h
ad no choice but to come back. He didn’t seem that interested in his recovery. You were all he was worried about.”

  “Yeah,” Lucy sighed, and a tiny stab of guilt ran through her body. “Sounds like Dad alright. So, he doesn’t know I am coming.”

  “No,” Clare confirmed. “He is still out from the anaesthetic, but you can sit with him if you like.”

  “Yes please,” Lucy replied.

  The nurse led Lucy to her father’s room. She stepped through the door and her heart tightened to see her dad lying there with drips and wires attached to him, wearing an oxygen mask.

  “It looks worse than it is,” Clare explained. “Most of the machines are just for precaution.”

  “Okay,” Lucy nodded as she stepped closer to the bed.

  “I will leave you two alone,” Clare said as softly touched Lucy’s arm and smiled. Lucy held her breath and tensed at the simple touch from this kindly woman in front of her. She couldn’t bear to be touched by anyone. The only exceptions to this rule were her father and her assistant, Alison.

  It took Lucy a long time to get used to Alison’s touchy-feely nature, but little by little she got past her fears. She took slow, steady breaths and forced a smile on her face.

  You can do this; you can do this! She chanted in her mind, over and over. Lucy breathed a sigh of relief when Clare walked out of the room and left her alone with her father.

  Lucy walked to the chair beside the bed and sat down. She reached out and carefully put her hand into her fathers.

  “Hey, Dad,” she whispered as suddenly her eyes glazed over with unshed tears. “I’m here.”

  She quickly brushed the tears from her eyes and squeezed his hand a little firmer, but her dad didn’t respond. So she sat quietly and watched him sleep, as his chest rose and fell with each breath.

  She wasn’t sure how long she was sitting there, but eventually her eyes grew heavier. She lay her head down on the side of the bed and pressed her cheek to the back of her father’s hand.

  “I love you, Dad,” she whispered softly. “I am sorry I waited until now to come home to you.”